All visitors are logged and counted. Click on this icon to view the visitor-statistics. The grand encyclopedia of computer terminology This encyclopedia is compiled by produkties.uithuizen.net This explains the most common computerterms which you can encounter. This list was compiled from several sources. It does not explain HTML commands in detail because for this purpose another encyclopedia is available.The most recent update of this document can be found at: http://www.uithuizen.net/encyclopedia/terms.php Choose a list of terms you want to see .A-.Z   0-9   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L    M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z Type a term you want to search for: and You want more information? Well click on these links: Random House Personal Computer Dictionary c      C   Cytron 257 items available in this category C 1) A programming language designed by Dennis Ritchie and Brian Kernighan at AT&T Bell Labs ca. 1972 for systems programming on the PDP-11 and immediately used to reimplement Unix. Therefore and for many years C was considered to be inextricably linked with UNIX. Now, however, C is an important language independent of UNIX. Although originally designed as a systems programming language, C has proved to be a powerful and flexible language that can be used for a variety of applications, from business programs to engineering. C is a particularly popular language for personal computer programmers because it is relatively small; it requires less memory than other languages. Although it is a high-level language, C is much closer to assembly language than are most other high-level languages. This closeness to the underlying machine language allows C programmers to write very efficient code. The low-level nature of C, however, can make the language difficult to use for some types of applications. It was called "C" because many features derived from an earlier compiler named "B" in commemoration of *its* parent, BCPL. In fact, C was briefly named "NB". Before Bjarne Stroustrup settled the question by designing C++, there was a humourous debate over whether C´s successor should be named "D" or "P" (following B and C in "BCPL"). 2) Carry flag. A status bit in many computers that holds the carry-in to the adder and gets the carry-out of the adder (among other uses). C++ A high-level programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs. C++ adds object-oriented features to its predecessor, C . C++ is rapidly becoming the programming language of choice for graphical applications, such as those that run in Windows and Macintosh environments. It is the most robust version of C, one of the more recent programming languages that can be used with most computers. C2.lop Known spyware or adware. C2.lop / INetSpeak Known spyware or adware. C2.lop / Xupiter Known spyware or adware. CABC Known spyware or adware. cable modem A modem attached to a coaxial cable television system. Cable modems can transmit data at 500 kilobits per second, much faster than the typical computer modem that sends signals over telephone lines. CABRO Known spyware or adware. cache 1) Pronounced cash, a special high-speed storage mechanism. It can be either a reserved section of main memory or a small, fast area of memory or an independent high-speed storage device to which parts of the information in main, slower memory or disk can be copied. Two types of caching are commonly used in personal computers: memory caching and disk. Information more likely to be read or changed is placed in the cache, where it can be accessed more quickly. 2) for a browser program, a temporary disk file used to hold pages that have been downloaded from the Net in case you want to see them again without waiting to retrieve them once more. A larger cache can speed up surfing, but it may mean you´re sometimes looking at information that´s out of date. cache memory See under cache. caching A memory cache, sometimes called a cache store or RAM cache, is a portion of memory made of high-speed static RAM (SRAM) instead of the slower and cheaper dynamic RAM (DRAM) used for main memory. Memory caching is effective because most programs access the same data or instructions over and over. By keeping as much of this information as possible in SRAM, the computer avoids accessing the slower DRAM. Some memory caches are built into the architecture of microprocessors. The Intel 80486 microprocessor, for example, contains an 8K memory cache, and the Pentium has a 16K cache. Such internal caches are often called primary caches or Level 1 (L1) caches. You can also add additional external cache memory, sometimes called secondary or Level 2 (L2) caches. Disk caching works under the same principle as memory caching, but instead of using high-speed SRAM, a disk cache uses conventional main memory. The most recently accessed data from the disk (as well as adjacent sectors) is stored in a memory buffer. When a program needs to access data from the disk, it first checks the disk cache to see if the data is there. Disk caching can dramatically improve the performance of applications, because accessing a byte of data in RAM can be thousands of times faster than accessing a byte on a hard disk. When data is found in the cache, it is called a cache hit, and the effectiveness of a cache is judged by its hit rate. Many cache systems use a technique known as smart caching, in which the system can recognize certain types of frequently used data. The strategies for determining which information should be kept in the cache constitute some of the more interesting problems in computer science. CAD Acronym for computer-aided design. A CAD system is a combination of hardware and certain software packages with sophisticated graphical- and drawing capabilities that enables engineers and architects to design and draw everything from furniture to airplanes. In addition to the software, CAD systems require a high-quality graphics monitor; a mouse, light pen, or digitizing tablet for drawing; and a special printer or plotter for printing design specifications. CAD systems allow an engineer to view a design from any angle with the push of a button and to zoom in or out for close-ups and long-distance views. In addition, the computer keeps track of design dependencies so that when the engineer changes one value, all other values that depend on it are automatically changed accordingly. Until the mid 1980s, all CAD systems were specially constructed computers. Now, you can buy CAD software that runs on general-purpose workstations and powerful personal computers. CAD/CAM Acronym for computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing, computer systems used to design and manufacture products. The term CAD/CAM implies that an engineer can use the system both for designing a product and for controlling manufacturing processes. For example, once a design has been produced with the CAD component, the design itself can control the machines that construct the part. See CAD. CADD Acronym for computer-aided design and drafting. CADD systems are CAD systems with additional drafting features. For example, CADD systems enable an engineer or architect to insert size annotations and other notes into a design. CAE Acronym of computer-aided engineering, computer systems that analyze engineering designs. Most CAD systems have a CAE component, but there are also independent CAE systems that can analyze designs produced by various CAD systems. CAE systems are able to simulate a design under a variety of conditions to see if it actually works. CAI Computer-Aided Instruction. The use of (personal) computers for education and training. CAKE Known spyware or adware. CAL Computer Aided Learning. call (v) To invoke a routine in a programming language. Calling a routine consists of specifying the routine name and, optionally, parameters. For example, the following is a function call in the C programming language: printf(Hello). The name of the function is ´printf´and the parameter is ´Hello´. This function call causes the computer to display the word Hello on the display screen. A routine that invokes another routine is sometimes referred to as the calling routine. The routine that is invoked is referred to as the called routine. (n) An invocation of a routine. CAM Acronym for computer-aided manufacturing, a type of computer application that helps automate a factory. For example, the following are types of CAM systems · real-time control · robotics · materials requirements All these systems are concerned with automatically directing the manufacture and inventory of parts. See also CAD/CAM. camera-ready In desktop publishing, camera-ready refers to the final state of a publication before it is printed. Historically, the term has meant that the copy is ready to be photographed and turned into plates for offset printing. Now a days, however, it is possible to print directly from the electronic version, either by sending it to a high-resolution laser printer or to a special device that can generate plates directly from electronic elements rather than from photographs. In these cases, therefore, camera-ready means merely that the document is ready to be printed. CamGirlsLive Known spyware or adware. CAMPURF Known spyware or adware. CANARY Known spyware or adware. cancel 1 ) In most programs, to request the termination of a pending request. 2) As applied to USENET newsgroups, to request the removal of an article (a single posting). 3) On many proprietary e-mail systems, an option that lets you delete a message after it was sent if the recipient hasn´t yet retrieved it. cancelbot A program sent out to eliminate certain postings to USENET newsgroups. CAPI Common application Programmers Interface. CAPS CAPitalS. Uppercase letters. For example, all caps means all letters capitalized. Caps Lock key A toggle key on computer keyboards that, when activated, causes all subsequent alphabetic characters to be uppercase, but has no effect on other keys. Captcha Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart capture To save a particular state of a program. The term capture often refers to saving the information currently displayed on a display screen. You can capture the screen to a printer or to a file. The act of saving a display screen is called a screen capture. The term capture is also used to describe the recording of keystrokes during the definition of a macro. card 1) Same as printed circuit board. 2) In hypertext systems such as HyperCard, a card is a single page of information. 3) Short for Chipcard. caret A wedge-shaped symbol (^) generally found above the 6 on computer keyboards. In older technical documentation, the caret is often used to indicate the Control key. For example, ^C would mean press the C key while holding down the Control key. Most modern documentation, however, would specify this key sequence as Ctrl+C. The caret symbol is also called a hat. carpal tunnel syndrome A common form of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) produced by repeating the same small movements many times. As more and more people use computers, carpal tunnel syndrome and other forms of RSI have become more prevalent. Typical symptoms are numbness or burning in the fingers or wrist. If not addressed early on, the injury can cause permanent damage. There are a number of ways to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome, including adjusting the height and angle of your chair and keyboard, and taking frequent breaks from typing. Modern office furniture, designed especially for computer use, can help considerably. Carpe Diem Known spyware or adware. CARPET.C Known spyware or adware. carriage The mechanism on a printer that feeds paper. A wide-carriage printer is a printer that can accept very wide paper. A narrow-carriage printer is a printer that accepts only standard-sized paper. carriage return Often abbreviated CR, a carriage return is a special code that moves the cursor (or print head) to the beginning of the current line. In the ASCII character set, a carriage return has a decimal value of 13. Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection CSMA/CD is rules defining how network devices respond when two devices attempt to use a data channel simultaneously and encounter a data collision. The CSMA/CD rules define how long the device should wait if a collision occurs one or more times. cartridge 1) A removable storage medium (tape, disk, or memory chip). Some printers have slots in which you can insert cartridges to load different fonts. A font loaded from a cartridge is called a font cartridge or cartridge font. The term removable cartridge usually refers to a type of hard disk that you can remove. Removable cartridges offer the speed of hard disks along with the portability of floppy disks. 2) For laser printers, a toner cartridge is a metal container that holds the toner. cartridge font Same as font cartridge CAS Communicating applications Specification. DCA and Intel´s standard programmatic interface for sending and receiving FAXes via any of a number of internal FAX boards. cascading windows An arrangement of windows such that they overlap one another. Typically, the title bar remains visible so that you can always see which windows are open. Cascading windows are also called overlaid windows. An alternative arrangement of windows, in which every window is completely visible, is called tiled windows. case insensitive Said of programs or systems that accept uppercase and lowercase letters as equivalents in commands, filenames, parameters, and other values. See also case sensitive. case sensitive A program´s ability to distinguish between uppercase (capital) and lowercase (small) letters. Programs that distinguish between uppercase and lowercase are said to be case sensitive. A case-sensitive program that expects you to enter all commands in uppercase will not respond correctly if you enter one or more characters in lowercase. It will treat the command RUN differently from run. See also case insensitive. CASER Known spyware or adware. CashToolbar Known spyware or adware. CasinoRewards Known spyware or adware. cathode ray tube See CRT. Cax Known spyware or adware. CAYAM Known spyware or adware. CBlaster Known spyware or adware. CBMS Computer Based Mail System. A CBMS is a good choice of message system if messages recipients have access to only dumb terminals. The advantage of CBMS systems is that users do not have to purchase computers and electronic mail software; they just call the store-and-forward service and send or retrieve their mail as required. CBR Constant Bit Rate. CBT Acronym for computer-based training, a type of education in which the student learns by executing special training programs on a computer. CBT is especially effective for training people to use computer applications because the CBT program can be integrated with the applications so that students can practice using the application as they learn. Historically, CBTs growth has been hampered by the enormous resources required: human resources to create a CBT program. and hardware resources needed to run it. However, the increase in PC computing power, and especially the growing prevalence of computers equipped with CD-ROMs, is making CBT a more viable option for corporations and individuals alike. Many PC applications now come with some modest form of CBT, often called a tutorial. cc carbon copy/courtesy copy. A copy of an electronic mail message sent to an additional recipient that is included on the list of recipients seen by the primary addressees. CCD Charged Coupled Device. A type of dynamic storage element in which a packet of charge represent a 12 bit and its absence a 02 bit; the storage cells (capacitors) form a shift register and move the charge packets from one cell to the next. Digital cameras, video cameras, and optical scanners all use CCD arrays. CCI Common Client Interface. CCINVADER2 Known spyware or adware. CCITT Committe´ Consultatif International de Telegraphique et Telephonique. An international organization that defines standards for telegraphic and telephone equipment. CCITT, now known as ITU (the parent organization) has defined many important standards for data communications, including the following: Group 3: The universal protocol for sending fax documents across telephone lines. The Group 3 protocol specifies CCITT T.4 data compression and a maximum transmission rate of 9,600 baud. There are two levels of resolution: 203 by 98 and 203 by 196. Group 4: A protocol for sending fax documents over ISDN networks. The Group 400 protocol supports images of up to 400 dpi resolution. V.21: The standard for full-duplex communication at 300 baud in Japan and Europe. In the United States, Bell 103 is used in place of V.21. The Bell 212 A standard for 1200 BPS or half-duplex communication in North America is observed internationally as CCITT V.22. V.22bis: The worldwide standard for full-duplex modems sending and receiving data across telephone lines at 1,200 or 2,400 bps. V.29: The standard for half-duplex modems sending and receiving data across telephone lines at 1,200, 2,400, 4,800, or 9,600 bps. This is the protocol used by fax modems. V.32: The standard for full-duplex modems sending and receiving data across phone lines at 4,800 or 9,600 bps. V.32 modems automatically adjust their transmission speeds based on the quality of the lines. V.32bis: The V.32 protocol extended to speeds of 7,200, 12,000, and 14,400 bps. V.34: The standard for full-duplex modems sending and receiving data across phone lines at up to 28,800 bps. V.34 modems automatically adjust their transmission speeds based on the quality of the lines. V.42: An error-detection standard for high-speed modems. V.42 can be used with digital telephone networks. See MNP for a competing standard. V.42bis: A data compression protocol that can enable modems to achieve a data transfer rate of 34,000 bps. X.25: The most popular packet-switching protocol for LANs. Ethernet, for example, is based on the X.25 standard. X.400: The universal protocol for e-mail. X.400 defines the envelope for e-mail messages so all messages conform to a standard format. X.500: An extension to X.400 that defines addressing formats so all e-mail systems can be linked together. CCK Acronym of Complementary Code Keying. A technology that is used in 802.11a and 802.11g technology. CCS Common Communications Support. CCS is designed to interconnect SAA applications, systems, networks, and devices. CD Color Display. CD-I A software and hardware standard developed by Philips International for storing video, audio, and binary data on compact optical disks. It supports 552MB (megabytes) of binary data and specifies several different types of video and audio encoding formats. Unlike conventional CD-ROM drives, CD-I drives have a built-in microprocessor to handle many of the computing functions. It is sometimes referred to as the Green Book standard. Although there are some CD-I devices and titles, the format has largely lost out to a competing standard developed by Intel Corporation known as DVI (Digital Video Interactive). Due to the CD-ROM and DVD techniques DVI is also not much used these days. CD-R Compact Disk - Recordable. CD-R drive Short for Compact Disk-Recordable drive, a type of disk drive that can create CD-ROMs. This allows users to master a CD-ROM for publishing. CD-R drives can also read CD-ROMs. CD-recordable drive See CD-R drive. CD-ROM Pronounced see-dee-rom, Acronym of Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory. A type of optical disk capable of storing large amounts of data up to 1GB, although the most common size is 630MB (megabytes). A single CD-ROM has the storage capacity of 700 floppy disks, enough memory to store about 300,000 text pages. CD-ROMs are recorded by the vendor, and once recorded, they cannot be erased and filled with new data. To read a CD, you need a CD-ROM player. Almost all CD-ROMs conform to a standard size and format, so it is usually possible to load any type of CD into any ROM player. In addition, most CD-ROM players are capable of playing audio CDs, which share the same technology. CD-ROMs are particularly well-suited to information that requires large storage capacity. This includes color graphics, sound, and especially video. Since the prices of CD-ROM players have decreased dramatically, and the tools for creating new CD-ROM titles have improved, the CD-ROM industry has been expanding rapidly. To date, the most popular CD-ROM titles have been computer games and multimedia reference works. This disc contains information in the form of specific patterns of holes in the surface of the disc. CD-ROM drive Same as CD-ROM player. CD-ROM player Also called a CD-ROM drive, a CD-ROM player is a device that can read information from a CD-ROM. It uses laser-light instead of magnetism to do so. CD-ROM players can be either internal, in which case they fit in a bay, or external, in which case they generally connect to the computers parallel port. Parallel CD-ROM players are easier to install, but they have several disadvantages: Theyre somewhat more expensive than internal players, they use up the parallel port which means that you cant use that port for another device such as a printer, and the parallel port itself may not be fast enough to handle all the data pouring through it. There are a number of features that distinguish CD-ROM players, the most important of which is probably their speed. CD-ROM players are classified as single-speed or some multiple of single-speed. For example, a 4X player access data at four times the speed of a single-speed player. Within these groups, however, there is some variation. The fastest players employ 56X speed. Two more precise measurements are the drives seek time and data transfer rate. The seek time, also called the access time, measures how long, on average, it takes the drive to access a particular piece of information. The data transfer rate measures how much data can be read and sent to the computer in a second. Aside from its speed, another important feature of a CD-ROM player is its compatibility with existing standards. If you plan to run CD-ROMs in a windows environment, you need a player that conforms to the MPC III standard. If you want to be able to view photographs stored on CD-ROM, make sure your player conforms to Kodaks PhotoCD format. All current players conform to all popular standards. Finally, you should consider how the player connects to your computer. Most CD-ROMs connect via a SCSI bus. If your computer doesn´t already contain such an interface, you will need to install one. Other CD-ROMs connect to an IDE or Enhanced IDE interface, which is the one used by the hard disk drive; still others use a proprietary interface. CD-RW disk Short for CD-ReWritable disk, a new type of CD disk that enables you to write onto it in multiple sessions. One of the problems with CD-R disks is that you can only write to them once. With CD-RW drives and disks, you can treat the optical disk just like a floppy or hard disk, writing data onto it multiple times. CD-RW drives are available since about 1997. They are able to read CD-ROMs and are able to write onto today´s CD-R disks. They were a popular storage medium until DVD devices became widely available. CD-V Compact Disc - Video. CD-WORM Compact Disc - Write Once Read Many Another description form CD-ROM. CD-XA Compact Disc - eXtended Architecture. CDF Channel Definition Format. Push-technology invented by Microsoft to make Webpages more interactively, by sending programs without request. CDP Cache Discovery Protocol CEBE Known spyware or adware. cell In spreadsheet applications, a cell is a box in which you can enter a single piece of data. The data is usually text, a numeric value, or a formula. The entire spreadsheet is composed of rows and columns of cells. A spreadsheet cell is analogous to a field in database management systems. Individual cells are usually identified by a column letter and a row number. For example, D12 specifies the cell in column D and row 12. central processing unit See CPU. Centronics interface A standard interface for connecting printers and other parallel devices. Although Centronics Corporation designed the original standard, the Centronics interface used by modern computers was designed by Epson Corporation. For PCs, almost all parallel ports conform to the Centronics standard. Two new parallel port standards that are backward compatible with Centronics, but offer faster transmission rates, are ECP (Extend Capabilities Port) and EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port) CERN short for Conseil Europeèn pour la Recherche Nucleaire. The European research institute for particle physics. In 1989 it was the place where WWW was born. CERVIVEC.A Known spyware or adware. CGA Acronym of Color Graphics Adapter. A color video display standard introduced in 1981 by IBM for its first PC, with a resolution of 320 x 200 pixels and four colors. Designed primarily for computer games, CGA does not produce sharp enough characters for extended editing sessions. CGA´s highest-resolution mode is 2 colors at a resolution of 640 by 200. CGA has been superseded by VGA systems, which are backward compatible with CGA. See also VGA, HGC, MDA. CGI 1) Common Gateway Interface. A standard for running external programs under a World Wide Web HTTP server. Otherwise said it is a specification for transferring information between a World Wide Web server and a CGI program. A CGI program is any program designed to accept and return data that conforms to the CGI specification. The program could be written in any programming language, including C , Perl, or Visual Basic. CGI programs are the most common way the Web servers to interact dynamically with users. Many HTML pages that contain forms, for example, use a CGI program to process the forms data once its submitted. External programs are known as "gateways" because they provide an interface between an external source of information and the server. 2) Computer Graphics Interface. cgi-bin The most common name of a directory on a web server in which CGI programs are stored. The ´bin´ part of ´cgi-bin´ is a shorthand version of ´binary´, because once upon a time, most public accessible programs were refered to as ´binaries´. In real life, most programs found in cgi-bin directories are textfiles, scripts that are executed by binaries located elsewhere on the same machine. channel 1) In communications, the term channel refers to a communications path between two computers or devices. It can refer to the physical medium (the wires) or to a set of properties that distinguishes one channel from another. For example, TV channels refer to particular frequencies at which radio waves are transmitted. IRC channels refer to specific discussions. 2) For IBM PS/2 computers, a channel is the same as an expansion bus. CHAP Challenge Handshake Authentication protocol. CHAR CHARacter. character In computer software, any symbol that requires one byte of storage. This includes all the ASCII and extended ASCII characters, including the space character. In character-based software, everything that appears on the screen, including graphics symbols, is considered to be a character. In graphics-based applications, the term character is generally reserved for letters, numbers, and punctuation. character mode Many video adapters support several different modes of resolution. All such modes are divided into two general categories: character mode (also called text mode) and graphics mode. In character mode, the display screen is treated as an array of blocks, each of which can hold one ASCII character. In graphics mode, the display screen is treated as an array of pixels, with characters and other shapes formed by turning on combinations of pixels. Of the two modes, character mode is much simpler. Programs that run in character mode generally run much faster than those that run in graphics mode, but they are limited in the variety of fonts and shapes they can display. Programs that run entirely in character mode are called character-based programs. character recognition See optical character recognition. character set A defined list of characters recognized by the computer hardware and software. Each character is represented by a number. The ASCII character set, for example, uses the numbers 0 through 127 to represent all English characters as well as special control characters. European ISO character sets are similar to ASCII, but they contain additional characters for European languages. character string A series of characters manipulated as a group. A character string differs from a name in that it does not represent anything; a name stands for some other object. A character string is often specified by enclosing the characters in single or double quotes. For example, WASHINGTON would be a name, but ´WASHINGTON´ and WASHINGTON would be character strings. The length of a character string is usually the number of characters in it. For example, the character string WASHINGTON has a length of 10 (the quote marks are not included). Some programs, however, mark the beginning or end of a character string with an invisible character, so the length might actually be one greater than the number of characters. character-based Describes programs capable of displaying only ASCII (and extended ASCII) characters. Character-based programs treat a display screen as an array of boxes, each of which can hold one character. When in text mode, for example, PC screens are typically divided into 25 rows and 80 columns. In contrast, graphics-based programs treat the display screen as an array of millions of pixels. Characters and other objects are formed by illuminating patterns of pixels. Because the IBM extended ASCII character set includes shapes for drawing pictures, character-based programs are capable of simulating some graphics objects. For example, character-based programs can display windows and menus, bar charts, and other shapes that consist primarily of straight lines. However, they cannot represent more complicated objects that contain curves. characters per second See cps. charge-coupled device See under CCD. ChargitDial Known spyware or adware. chassis A metal frame that serves as the structural support for electronic components. Every computer system requires at least one chassis to house the circuit boards and wiring. The chassis also contains slots for expansion boards. If you want to insert more boards than there are slots, you will need an expansion chassis, which provides additional slots. There are two basic flavors of chassis designs desktop models and tower models but there are many variations on these two basic types. CHAT short for: Conversational Hypertext Access Technology. A form of conversation in a network. chat room A virtual room where a chat session takes place. Technically, a chat room is really a channel, but the term room is used to promote the chat metaphor. ChatWatch Known spyware or adware. check-box In graphical user interfaces, a box that you can click to turn an option on or off. When the option is on, an X appears in the box. checksum A simple error-detection scheme in which each transmitted message is accompanied by a numerical value based on the number of set bits in the message. The receiving station then applies the same formula to the message and checks to make sure the accompanying numerical value is the same. If not, the receiver knows that the message has been garbled. CheckUrl Known spyware or adware. chip A small piece of semiconducting material (usually silicon) on which an integrated circuit is embedded. A typical chip is less than ¼-square inches and can contain millions of electronic components (transistors). Computers consist of many chips placed on electronic boards called printed circuit boards. There are different types of chips. For example, CPU chips (also called microprocessors) contain an entire processing unit, whereas memory chips contain blank memory. Chips come in a variety of packages. The three most common are: DIPs: Dual in-line packages are the traditional buglike chips that have anywhere from 8 to 40 legs, evenly divided in two rows. PGAs: Pin-grid arrays are square chips in which the pins are arranged in concentric squares. SIPs: Single in-line packages are chips that have just one row of legs in a straight line like a comb. In addition to these types of chips, there are also single in-line memory modules (SIMMs), which consist of up to nine chips packaged as a single unit. Choke Known spyware or adware. choose To pick a command or option. To choose a menu command or command button in a graphical user interface, you click on it. The terms choose and select are often used interchangeably, but some authors make a distinction between choosing, which actually activates a command, and selecting, which merely highlights a command or other object. CHR CHaRacter. CHS Cylinder Head Sector. Method used by hard disks to find a particular position. See also LBA CHUPACABRA Known spyware or adware. CIADOOR.122 Known spyware or adware. CIADOOR.B Known spyware or adware. CIAN.C Known spyware or adware. CIE color model A color model based on human perception developed by the CIE (Commission Internationale de lEclairage) committee. While widely regarded as the most accurate color model, CIE is unsuitable for many technologies, including color printing and color monitors. Consequently, these systems need to use other color models, such as CMYK and RGB. There is a growing trend, however, to make all color models relative to the CIE model. This would make it easier to translate from one model to another. Cinepak A popular codec (compression/decompression technology) for computer video developed by SuperMac Inc. circuit board Short for printed circuit board. CIREBOT Known spyware or adware. CISC Pronounced sisk. An Acronym for Complex Instruction Set Computer. In essence, a description for any computer that lacks the properties of being a reduced-instruction-set computer; generally, a computer with the following properties: complex addressing modes, instructions with many sizes, instructions that have memory-to-memory or memory-to-register operations and a microprogrammed control unit. Most personal computers, use a CISC architecture, in which the CPU supports as many as two hundred instructions. An alternative architecture, used by many workstations and also some personal computers, is RISC (reduced instruction set computer) , which supports fewer instructions. CISSI.A Known spyware or adware. class In object-oriented programming, a category of objects. For example, there might be a class called shape that contains objects which are circles, rectangles, and triangles. The class defines all the common properties of the different objects that belong to it. clear To erase. Clear the screen, for example, means to erase everything on the display screen. Clear a variable means to remove whatever data is currently stored in the variable. Clear memory means to erase all data currently stored in memory. Clearsearch Known spyware or adware. ClearStream Accelerator Known spyware or adware. CleverIEHooker Known spyware or adware. click (v) To tap on a mouse button, pressing it down and then immediately releasing it. Note that clicking a mouse button is different from pressing (or dragging) a mouse button, which implies that you hold the button down without releasing it. The phrase to click on means to select (a screen object) by moving the mouse pointer to the object´s position and clicking a mouse button. Some operations require a double click, meaning that you must click a mouse button twice in rapid succession. Shift clicking refers to clicking the mouse button while holding the Shift key down. (n) The pressing down and rapid release of a mouse button. Clickbank Known spyware or adware. ClickDLoader Known spyware or adware. clickrate Presentation of the meaned number of times that is clicked by users upon a webpage or hyperlink. clickshop A store on WWW where one can order articles via one simple mouseclick. Also webstore. Clickspring Known spyware or adware. ClickTheButton Known spyware or adware. clickware Software on Internet for sell that can be ordered via a simple mouseclick. client 1) A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. Each client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of server programs, and each server requires a specific kind of client. A Web browser is a specific kind of client. 2) A PC in a client-server network. client-server An architecture whereby one computer can get information from another. ClientMan Known spyware or adware. clip In computer graphics, to cut off a portion of a graphic at a defined boundary. Most bit-mapped graphics utilities provide a clip feature that enables you to draw a window around an object and clip everything outside of the window. clip-art Electronic illustrations that can be inserted into a document. Many clip-art packages are available, some general and others specialized for a particular field. Most clip-art packages provide the illustrations in several file formats so that you can insert them into various word-processing systems. clipboard A special file or memory area (buffer) where data is stored temporarily before being copied to another location. Many word processors, for example, use a clipboard for cutting and pasting. When you cut a block of text, the word processor copies the block to the clipboard; when you paste the block, the word processor copies it from the clipboard to its final destination. Microsoft Windows uses a multipurpose clipboard. Clipper chip An encryption chip designed under the auspices of the U.S. government. The government´s idea was to enforce use of this chip in all devices that might use encryption, including computers , modems , telephones, and televisions. The government would control the encryption algorithm, thereby giving it the ability to decrypt any messages it recovered. The purported goal of this plan was to enable the U.S. government to carry out surveillance on enemies of the state even if they used encryption to protect their messages. However, the Clipper chip created a fierce backlash from both public interest organizations and the computer industry in general. The government eventually retracted its original plan but has since promoted two other plans called Clipper 2 and Clipper 3, respectively. The Clipper 3 plan allows the use of any encryption technology but stipulates that government law enforcement agencies be able to recover any keys exported out of the country. Clitor Known spyware or adware. CLK CLocK. clock rate Same as clock speed. clock speed Also called clock rate, the speed at which a microprocessor executes instructions. Every computer contains an internal clock that regulates the rate at which instructions are executed and synchronizes all the various computer components. The CPU requires a fixed number of clock ticks (or clock cycles) to execute each instruction. For example, an Intel 80286 microprocessor needs about 20 clock cycles to multiply two numbers together. The faster the clock, the more instructions the CPU can execute per second. Clock speeds are expressed in megahertz (MHz and GHz), 1MHz being equal to 1 million cycles per second. Personal computers have clock speeds of anywhere from 4MHz to over 3400 MHz. Usually, the clock rate is a fixed characteristic of the microprocessor. Some computers, however, have a switch that lets you choose between two or more different clock speeds. This is useful because programs written to run on a machine with a high clock rate may not work properly on a machine with a slower clock rate, and vice versa. In addition, some add-on components may not be able to run at high clock speeds. The internal architecture of a CPU has as much to do with a CPUs performance as the clock speed, so two CPUs with the same clock speed will not necessarily perform equally. Whereas an Intel 80286 microprocessor requires 20 cycles to multiply two numbers, an Intel 80486 or later processor can perform the same calculation in a single clock tick. So newer processors, therefore, would be faster than the older processors even if their clock speeds were the same. Like CPUs, expansion buses also have clock speeds. Ideally, the CPU clock speed and the bus clock speed should be the same so that neither component slows down the other. In practice, the bus clock speed is often slower than the CPU clock speed. ClockSynck Known spyware or adware. clone A computer, software product, or device that functions exactly like another, better-known product. For example, IBM PC clones are personal computers that offer the same functionality as an IBM PC but are produced by other companies. If the clone is good, you should be unable to tell the difference between it and the real product. Nowadays most computers are in fact clones. The term clone implies that the product is an exact duplicate. Note that the term clone is a bit stronger than the term compatible. For example, an IBM PC clone is a computer that has most, if not all, the same components as a real IBM PC. The term IBM-compatible, on the other hand, implies only that the computer is capable of running any program that an IBM PC can run. This does not mean that it is the same internally. close 1) To finish work on a data file and save it. 2) In graphical user interfaces, to close a window means to exit an application or file, thereby removing the window from the screen. For example: quitting a Windows application by closing the corresponding window. cluster A group of contiguous sectors on a disk. The operating system assigns a unique number to each cluster and then keeps track of files according to which clusters they use. Occasionally, the operating system marks a cluster as being used even though the file that is supposedly using it no longer exists. This is called a lost cluster. You can free up disk space by deleting lost clusters, but you should first make sure that the clusters do not, in fact, contain valuable data. DOS and Windows keep track of clusters with the File Allocation Table (FAT). The size of each cluster depends on the disk´s partition size. CMOS 1) Acronym of complementary metal oxide semiconductor. Pronounced see-moss, CMOS is a widely used type of semiconductor. CMOS semiconductors require less power than NMOS transistors, making them particularly attractive for use in battery-powered devices , such as portable computers. 2)Acronym of Computer Manufacturers Operating System. Many personal computers contain a small amount of battery-powered CMOS memory to hold the date, time, and system setup parameters. See BIOS. CMS See color management system. CMY Cyan-Magenta-Yellow. CMYK Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-blacK. CnsMin Known spyware or adware. coaxial cable A type of wire that consists of a center wire surrounded by insulation and then a grounded shield of braided wire. The shield minimizes electrical and radio frequency interference. Coaxial cabling is the primary type of cabling used by the cable television industry and is also widely used for computer networks. Although more expensive than standard telephone wire, it is much less susceptible to interference and can carry much more data. Because the cable television industry has already connected millions of homes with coaxial cable, many analysts believe that they are the best positioned to capitalize on the much-heralded information highway. COBOL Acronym for common business oriented language. Developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, COBOL is the second-oldest high-level programming language (FORTRAN is the oldest). It is particularly popular for business applications that run on large computers. COBOL is a wordy language; programs written in COBOL tend to be much longer than the same programs written in other languages. This can be annoying when you program in COBOL, but the wordiness makes it easy to understand programs because everything is spelled out. Although disparaged by many programmers for being outdated, COBOL is still the most widely used programming language in the world. code (n) 1) A set of symbols for representing something. For example, most computers use ASCII codes to represent characters. 2) Written computer instructions. The term code is somewhat colloquial. For example, a programmer might say: I wrote a lot of code this morning or There´s one piece of code that doesn´t work. Code can appear in a variety of forms. The code that a programmer writes is called source code. After it has been compiled, it is called object code. Code that is ready to run is called executable code or machine code. (v) Colloquial for to program (that is, to write source code). CODEC 1) COder/DECoder device a unit, circuit, or program that converts information from its usual format to an encoded version used for storage or transmission--and converts it back again. 2) COmpression/DECompression. Coder Dialer Known spyware or adware. cold boot The start-up of a computer from a powered-down state. collapse To compress a view of a hierarchy so that only the roots of each branch are visible. The opposite of collapse is expand, which makes the entire branch visible. colon This symbol: *:*. color depth The number of distinct colors that can be represented by a piece of hardware or software. Color depth is sometimes referred to as bit depth because it is directly related to the number of bits used for each pixel. An 16-bit video adapter, for example, has a color depth of 2^16 (about 16.7 million) colors. See also bits per pixel. color management system A system for ensuring that colors remain the same regardless of the device or medium used to display the colors. This is extremely difficult because different devices use different technologies and models to produce colors. In addition, color is highly subjective. The same colors look different to different people. color matching The process of assuring that a color on one medium remains the same when converted to another medium. This is extremely difficult because different media use different color models. Color monitors, for example, use the RGB model, whereas process printing uses the CMYK model. As color desktop publishing matures, color matching is gaining more and more attention. color monitor A display monitor capable of displaying many colors. In contrast, a monochrome monitor can display only two colorsone for the background and one for the foreground. Color monitors implement the RGB color model by using three different phosphors that appear r ed, green, and blue when activated. By placing the phosphors directly next to each other, and activating them with different intensities, color monitors can create an unlimited number of colors. In practice, however, the real number of colors that any monitor can display is controlled by the video adapter. color plane A color plane contains all of the pixel information for a single color. Also called color channels. Image formats that use color planes are called "planar" formats. color printer A printer capable of printing more than one color. Most color printers are based on the CMYK color model, which prints in four basic colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. By printing combinations of different colors close to each other (or, in the case of thermal dye transfer printers, on top of each other), the CMYK model can simulate most other colors (except for special colors such as fluorescent yellow). This is the same technique used in process color offset printing, which is the technology used to print most color books, magazines, and other paper materials. Some lower-price printers use only three colorscyan, magenta, and yellow but these printers cannot print true black and their colors tend to be a bit faded. Color printers use a variety of techniques to lay down the different colors: Thermal dye transfer printers, also called dye sublimation printers, heat ribbons containing dye and then diffuse the dyes onto specially coated paper or transparencies. These printers are the most expensive and slowest, but they produce continuous-tone images that mimic actual photographs. Note that you need special paper, which is quite expensive. Thermal wax transfer printers use wax-based inks that are melted and then laid down on regular paper or transparencies. Unlike thermal dye transfer printers, these printers print images as dots, which means that images must be dithered first. As a result images are not quite photo-realistic, although they are very good. The big advantages of these printers over thermal dye transfer printers are that they dont require special paper and that they are faster. Solid ink-jet printers, also called wax jet or phase change printers, work by melting dyed wax and then spraying it on paper. This produces bright colors on virtually any type of paper. The downside to solid ink-jet printers is that they are slow and relatively expensive. Color laser printers use the same principle as monochrome laser printers, but they include four toners rather than one. Although laser printers produce better quality output than ink-jet printers, they are also three to four times more expensive. Color ink-jet printers are the least expensive color printers. They contain three or four separate nozzles, each of which sprays a different color of ink. Color printers are sometimes divided into the following categories: Bi-level: Each of the ink colors is either on or off for each dot. Different colors are produced by dithering. Continuous-tone: Each dot can contain a mixture of colors. Contone: Provides more shades per dot than bi-level printers, but less than continuous-tone printers. color separation The act of decomposing a color graphic or photo into single-color layers. For example, to print full-color photos with an offset printing press, one must first separate the photo into the four basic ink colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). Each single-color layer is then printed separately, one on top of the other, to give the impression of infinite colors. This type of color separation, mixing three or four colors to produce an infinite variety of colors, is called process color separation. Another type of color separation, called spot color separation, is used to separate colors that are not to be mixed. In this case, each spot color is represented by its own ink, which is specially mixed. Spot colors are effective for highlighting text but they cannot be used to reproduce full-color images. Traditionally, process color separation has been performed photographically with different colored filters. However, many modern desktop publishing systems are now capable of producing color separations for graphics stored electronically. This capability is essential if you want to create full-color documents on your computer and then print them using an offset printer. You dont need to perform color separation if you are printing directly to a color printer because in this case the printer itself performs the color separation internally. column 1) On a display screen in character mode, a column is a vertical line of characters extending from the top to the bottom of the screen. The size of a text display is usually measured in rows and columns. 2) In spreadsheets, a column is a vertical row of cells. Spreadsheet columns are usually identified by letters. 3) In database management systems, column is another name for field. 4) In documents, a column is a vertical area reserved for text. Most newspapers, for example, contain four or more columns per page. Modern word processors and desktop publishing systems enable you to automatically divide a page into columns. column graph A type of presentation graphic in which numerical values are illustrated with horizontal columns. Column graphs are particularly effective for showing values that are categorized by two separate characteristics, such as year and sector. COM 1) Acronym for COMmunication. 2) Acronym for Component Object Model COM file In DOS environments, a COM file is an executable command file with a .COM filename extension. COM files can be directly executed and are usually slightly smaller than equivalent EXE files. However, COM files cannot exceed 64K, so large programs are usually stored in .EXE files. COM-port In DOS systems, the name of a serial communications port through which data is send byte-by-byte. DOS supports four serial port names: COM1, COM2, COM3, and COM4, but most PCs have only two physical serial ports. This means that the names overlap. Typically, COM1 and COM3 refer to one port, while COM2 and COM4 refer to the other. So if you have two devices, one of which is attached to COM1 and the other to COM3, you cannot use them simultaneously. Compared to a parallel port, a COM-port is slow. Comcast Known spyware or adware. Comet Cursor Known spyware or adware. Comload Known spyware or adware. comma-delimited A data format in which each piece of data is separated by a comma. command An instruction to a computer or device to perform a specific task. Commands come in different forms. They can be: · special words (keywords) that a program understands. · function keys · choices in a menu · buttons or other graphical objects on your screen. Every program that interacts with people responds to a specific set of commands. The set of commands and the syntax for entering them is called the user interface and varies from one program to another. The DOS operating system makes a distinction between internal and external commands. Internal commands are commands, such as COPY and DIR, that can be handled by the COMMAND.COM program. External commands include the names of all other COM files, as well as EXE and BAT files. Another word for command is directive. command buffer A temporary storage area where commands are kept. (In DOS environments, the command buffer is called a template.) DOS and UNIX support several operations for manipulating the command buffer. For example, you can use the F3 function key in DOS to copy the template´s contents to the display screen. This is useful for repeating a command or for correcting a mistake. Command buffers also make it possible for programs to undo commands. command driven Refers to programs that accept commands in the form of special words or letters. In contrast, programs that allow you to choose from a list of options in a menu are said to be menu driven. Command-driven software is often more flexible than menu-driven software, but it is more difficult to learn. command language The programming language through which a user communicates with the operating system or an application. For example, the DOS command language includes the commands DIR, COPY, and DEL, to name a few. The part of an operating system that responds to operating system commands is called the command processor. With graphical user interfaces, the command language consists of operations you perform with a mouse or similar input device. command line The line on the display screen where a command is expected. Generally, the command line is the line that contains the most recently displayed command prompt. command line interpreter Same as command processor. command processor The part of the operating system that receives and executes operating system commands. Every operating system has a command processor. When the command prompt is displayed, the command processor is waiting for a command. After you enter a command, the command processor analyzes the syntax to make sure the command is valid, and then either executes the command or issues an error warning. For operating systems with a graphical user interface, the command processor interprets mouse operations and executes the appropriate command. Another term for command processor is command line interpreter. Commander Toolbar Known spyware or adware. common carrier Same as public carrier. Common Gateway Interface See CGI. Common Object Request Broker Architecture See CORBA. CommonName Known spyware or adware. CommonSearch Known spyware or adware. communications The transmission of data from one computer to another, or from one device to another. A communications device, therefore, is any machine that assists data transmission. For example, modems, cables, and ports are all communications devices. Comodo Known spyware or adware. compatible Software or hardware is compatible when it is usuable on different systems. compile To transform a program written in a high-level programming language from source code into object code. compiler A program that translates source code into object code. The compiler derives its name from the way it works, looking at the entire piece of source code and collecting and reorganizing the instructions. In this, a compiler differs from an interpreter. Compilers require some time before an executable program emerges. However, programs produced by compilers run much faster than the same programs executed by an interpreter. Every high-level programming language (except strictly interpretive languages) comes with a compiler. In effect, the compiler is the language, because it defines which instructions are acceptable. Because compilers translate source code into object code, which is unique for each type of computer, many compilers are available for the same language. For example, there is a FORTRAN compiler for PCs and another for Apple Macintosh computers. In addition, the compiler industry is quite competitive, so there are actually many compilers for each language on each type of computer. More than a dozen companies develop and sell C compilers for the PC. Component Object Model A model for binary code developed by Microsoft. The Component Object Model (COM) enables programmers to develop objects that can be accessed by any COM-compliant application. Both OLE and ActiveX are based on COM. component software Sometimes called componentware is software designed to work as a component of a larger application. A good analogy is the way personal computers are built up from a collection of standard components: memory chips, CPUs, buses, keyboards, mice, disk drives, monitors, etc. Because all of the interfaces between components are standardized, it is possible to mix components from different manufacturers in a single system. Similarly, the goal of component software is to standardize the interfaces between software components so that they too can work together seamlessly. Two new standards OLE and OpenDoc are designed to help programmers develop components that can work together. Many analysts believe that component software is the natural extension of object-oriented programming and that it will become the standard programming paradigm for years to come. componentware See under component software. composite video A type of video signal in which all information the red, blue, and green signals (and sometimes audio signals as well) are mixed together. This is the type of signal used by televisions in the United States (see NTSC). In contrast, most computers use RGB video, which consists of three separate signals for red, green, and blue. In general, RGB video produces sharper images than composite video does. compound document A document that contains elements from a variety of computer applications. For example, a single compound document might include text from a word processor, graphics from a draw program, and a chart from a spreadsheet application. Most importantly, each element in the compound document is stored in such a way that it can be manipulated by the application that created it. Many computer experts believe that compound documents represent the most useful metaphor for utilizing computers because they allow people to mix different forms of expression rather than artificially separating them. With the emergence of OLE as an important standard, compound documents are likely to become more and more a part of everyday computing. compression The art/science of reducing the number of bits required to store and/or transmit digital media. It lets you store and transmit files more efficiently. After downloading a compressed file, you can look at the last three letters of the file´s name to determine what software you will need to decompress it. Common suffixes are .ARC, .SIT, .ARJ, .TAR, .GZ and .ZIP. It minimizes the space a computer needs to represent the data in a file. The data are compressed through use of an algorithm that substitutes markers for common information. For example, in binary code, every letter is represented by a string of eight 1s and 0s. When compressed, a common letter like ´e´ may be represented by a single marker requiring only one bit instead of eight. When decompressed, the marker is translated back into its original state. In respect to images there are two types of compression: lossless and lossy. Lossy compression is a compression scheme that emphasizes producing a small picture file, even at the cost of picture quality. Lossy compression can produce smaller picture files than lossless compression; however, when you uncompress the picture, some of the original picture data is lost and cannot be recovered. Lossless compression is a compression scheme that emphasizes maintaining the integrity of the original picture. When the picture is uncompressed, it maintains the same resolution and picture quality of the original, uncompressed picture. The opposite of compression is decompression. Comtry Known spyware or adware. CON: CONsole. The combination of keyboard and monitor; the gateway between the computer and the user. CONFIG CONFIGuration. connection 1) Cable between two or more computers in a network 2) Dataline between two or more computers in a network. Opposite: disconnect. connector A plug connected to a cable. It can be female or male. Conspy Known spyware or adware. convergence The possibility of a CRT or TFT to light up the correct pixel. cookie The most common meaning of ´Cookie´ on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web server to a Web browser that the browser software is expected to save and to send back to the server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the server. Depending on the type of Cookie used, and the browser´s settings, the browser may accept or not accept the Cookie, and may save the Cookie for either a short time or a long time. Cookies might contain information such as login or registration information, online ´shopping cart´ information, user preferences, etc. When a server receives a request from a browser that includes a Cookie, the server is able to use the information stored in the Cookie. For example, the server might customize what is sent back to the user, or keep a log of particular user´s requests. Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time and are usually saved in memory until the browser software is closed down, at which time they may be saved to disk if their ´expire time´ has not been reached. They can be used to gather more information about a user than would be possible without them. CoolSavings Known spyware or adware. CoolWebSearch Known spyware or adware. CoolWebSearch parasite variant Known spyware or adware. CoolWebSearch/Payfortraffic.net Known spyware or adware. CoreServer Known spyware or adware. CORONEX.A Known spyware or adware. country code An ISO standardized two letter code used in Internet addresses to indicate to which country a certain website belongs. Couponica Known spyware or adware. COW Known spyware or adware. CPI Common Programming Interface. The most important feature of the CPI is IBM´s re-endorsement of COBOL and FORTRAN as the primary programming languages, along with C. CPS Cycles Per Second. cps Characters per second; A data transfer rate generally estimated from the bit rate and the character length. CPU Central Processing Unit; part of a PC consisting of the control unit, arithmetic and logic unit and register file, but excluding the main memory and I/O systems. examples: 8086 or 8088 (very old generation: 10 MHz) 80286 or 80386 (rather old: 25, 40, 66 of 75 MHz) 80486 or Pentium (old: 100, 125, 166, 200 MHz) Pentium Pro (new: 250, 300 MHz or higher, currently up to 3.0+ GHz). CR Carriage Return. CR/LF Carriage Return/Line Feed. CrackedEarth Known spyware or adware. CRC 1) Carriage Return Character. 2) Cyclic Redundancy Checking. An error-detection technique consisting of a cyclic algorithm performed on each block or frame of data by both sending and receiving modems . The sending modem inserts the results of its computation in each data block in the form of a CRC code. The receiving modem compares its results with the received CRC code and responds with either a positive or negative acknowledgement. CRCC Cyclic Redundancy Checking Character. Croc Crawler Known spyware or adware. CRT Cathode Ray Tube. CRTC Cathode Ray Tube Controller. CS Code Segment. 1) A segment of memory composed entirely of executable code 2) One of four 64-KB segments of memory that the 8088 microprocessor can access directly; the only segment that holds code for the current instruction. CSApp Known spyware or adware. CSearch Known spyware or adware. CSLIP Compressed SLIP (CSLIP) is a more efficient version of SLIP, that features VJ Header Compression. CSLIP is not necessarily supported by all SLIP servers. CSMA/CD Acronym of Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection CSRSS Acronym of Client/Server Run-time Subsystem. CSRSS is the user-mode portion of the Win32 subsystem in Microsoft Windows operating systems. ctor.dll Known spyware or adware. CTRL ConTRoL. CUA Common User Access. CUI Common User Interface. CULT.M Known spyware or adware. cursor The moveable flashing line or block which indicates the position on which the next character will be placed or the position that will be effected by the next control command. CustomToolbar Known spyware or adware. CVF Compressed Volume File. CVGA Color Video Gaphics Array. CWS hijacker Known spyware or adware. cyber A prefix used in a growing number of terms to describe new things that are being made possible by the spread of computers. See cybercash, cyberphobia, cyberpunk, cyberspace, cyberspeak cybercash Electronic money with which on-line orders can be paid. Is also called E-money, E-cash or digicash. Cyberphobia An irrational fear of computers. Cyberpunk A genre of science fiction that draws heavily on computer science ideas. Cyberspace Term originated by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer. The word Cyberspace is currently used to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks. cyberspeak The language (often jargon, slang, emoticons and acronyms) of cyberspace; the preferred method of communication in a world connected by electronic networks. CyberSpy Known spyware or adware. Cydoor Known spyware or adware. CYL CYLinder. cylinder The two tracks on the same place, but on opposite sides of a double faced disk; valid for harddisk as well as floppy-disk. CYMK Cyan-Yellow-Magenta-blacK. Cytron Known spyware or adware. This encyclopedia is for informational purposes only. All (registered) trademarks mentioned are property of their respective owners. No infringement of third party rights intended. The author cannot garantuee that the information presented is complete or that it contains no errors.